Electrical system goes crazy

[Citrus breeze]

Just came back from a camping trip boondogging for 9 nights. Everything went fine. 

We have solar panels on roof. Drove home for 7 hours in sunshine. 
 

Arrived home to find I had no power in unit. Monitors dead. 
 

lights dead  

Plugged into a/c overnight  Everything fine  

Unplugged and everything went crazy again  

 

Any ideas?

 

Charlie

 

 

[Steve and MA]

Does "everything fine" when plugged into shore power mean both 12 volt DC and 120 volt AC are working?  What goes crazy when unplugged?  Since you were boondocking for 9 days, then you were running on your batteries.  What was the state of charge from day to day?  There are a lot of helpful and experienced folks on this forum.  Someone is bound to respond if you provide additional details about your coach (type of batteries and inverter/charger) and the troubleshooting steps you've already tried.

[Citrus breeze]

I often travel even from Florida to New England with all electric systems off on Oliver.  Solar panels are exposed to sun. When I arrive at my destination the power in the Oliver is performing normally. Lights work. Propane sensor is on steady. Solar monitor reads steady, etc. 

This time, nothing acted normal. The short video I attached shows you that the solar monitor reading is flashing high/low back and forth readings. The cabin lights are unsteady. 
Front jack and stability jacks won’t work. 

I’m checking batteries tomorrow to see what voltage they read. It seems to me that the batteries are failing. But, all of a sudden?

 

Of course, when I was traveling home the Oliver was plugged into my truck. Tail lights and brake lights were working. 
 

Thanks for responding. 
 

Charlie

[jd1923]

3 hours ago, Citrus breeze said:

with all electric systems off on Oliver.

Not sure what this means. We travel with everything ON! Of course not running high amp appliances while towing.

End of your video shows 9.5V which means dead batteries. You would have to explain your battery kind and specs, inverter? What did or did not work? Taillights have nothing to do with the Oliver, powered by the tow vehicle.

Give us a lot more info to help. And yes, test battery voltage. Also see if batteries are charging when reconnected to shore power. 

[Citrus breeze]

Haven’t checked batteries voltage yet, but here’s the battery type etc. 

I wonder how long these type of batteries can last??

Charlie

 

[Citrus breeze]

Just checked and found that AGM batteries can last 3-7 years, depending on proper care.  I did find some corrosion on the terminals yesterday, and have begun to clean them.  Will finish doing that today.  It seems that temperature and storage can seriously affect their health.  Also, you should use a battery charger that is rated for use on AGM batteries, not the typical charger for normal lead/acid batteries.  

 

Charlie

[Rivernerd]

1 hour ago, Citrus breeze said:

Just checked and found that AGM batteries can last 3-7 years, depending on proper care.

Yep. How old are  your AGM batteries?  The symptoms you describe are consistent with dead batteries.  Have you verified voltage directly on the battery terminals with a multimeter?  If not, this is a good time to buy a decent quality multimeter and learn how to use it to check DC voltage.  I have had good luck with Kleins: 

https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-MM325-Multimeter-Manual-Ranging/dp/B0B57L9FNL/ref=sr_1_3?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.61XKRl89-3qY_jOJ1tlRT6tFtXNi8iiTpXqgzJqMZsrq7RzLpFwfoWRgEHYrZp8penyQEogP6kuBaZthL2fdJqqzGaPZUGzR4Ve04WpsxcPqWYRXosVndFIsRAyHUEfeWwL2wFYskycszgVtiIZzkz10nH_v2yqeby4RP-ofXUq1_amtpf375sJDuy6KSDEZA3IShhRIX0z0PPh9ONsoOL32aw9119j9kyiVMmCjXJksbjlqQs6LxNXerLk8LHfRdd_4gJTGyRX2_9tTVMGDmBpCQP2MtLlTKd0NF4x6DpU.At0pL72QN-091RMJyRyQ4TbKFEcmWWFbNvncC9xG1qA&dib_tag=se&hvadid=580671312857&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9029558&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7645837832001151333&hvtargid=kwd-29526678819&hydadcr=8432_13498106&keywords=klein%2Bmultimeter&qid=1726585739&sr=8-3&th=1

"Healthy" 12 volt AGMs should read at least 13V after charging.  Any reading after recharge below 13V indicates a dead, or dying, AGM battery.

If your AGMs are dead, I recommend you invest the time now to get educated about the pros and cons, including cost, of switching to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) going forward vs. buying a new set of AGMs.  Since you boondock (like we do), if you plan to keep your Oliver for at least another 5 years, I believe the upgrade to LiFePO4 would pay off long term.  The initial investment in Lithium batteries (and other components of a retrofit) is much higher, but they last at least twice as long and provide more usable 12V power per amp hour than AGMs.

This long string may provide a helpful starting point:

Good luck!

Edited September 17 by Rivernerd

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, Rivernerd said:

If not, this is a good time to buy a decent quality multimeter and learn how to use it to check DC voltage.  I have had good luck with Kleins.

Me too, we have MANY Klein tools, many Made in USA. I just bought one of these. This eBay item is at a great price and the Seller has 100% feedback with over 5000 sales.

I wanted a clamp meter. Only the Klein CL390 and CL800 models are clamp meters that read DC Amps. At this price, I went for the CL800 since it has the rugged casing. Same item on Amazon is $110. Klein Tools CL800 AC/DC True RMS Auto-Ranging Digital Clamp Meter 731215049170 | eBay

[Citrus breeze]

Checked batteries. Terminals were corroded. Cleaned with baking soda and water. Scraped away a bit. Removed nuts and cleaned. 
 

When I checked what was going on inside Oliver, lights were steady and solar monitor read 13.6 v. 

Reattached shore power and it seemed to be charging. Will let you know later if that was the only problem. 
 

Thanks for your posts. This hopefully will be the end of my problem. 
 

Charlie

[Citrus breeze]

My AGMs are 6 V, not twelve. 
 

Have thought about Li batteries. Pros and cons. I take it you are satisfied. 
 

Thanks

Charlie

[Citrus breeze]

Forgot to mention, that one battery strap was corroded ( plastic buckle).  Will have to replace that. 
 

Charlie

[Snackchaser]

I agree with everyone that this is most likely a battery problem.  The flucuating voltage confirms it, and when you are plugged into shore power everything was working fine from the charger/converter.

Corroded terminals could defiantly cause the problems you described.  With any sign of corrosion, all the connections should be cleaned and wire brushed because some of the oxidation can't be seen and it will cause high resistance connections.   Hopefully that solves the problem, but keep in mind that the batteries could be so deeply discharged that  it may take a while to bring them back.

If that does't work, then you could have a battery with an internal short when under load.  This is common and  a voltage test may not see it.   You might have to disconnect each battery and load test them individually.  Harbor Freight carries cheap load testers, but battery shops usually have better ones.   

Only after that would I be looking in other places for the problem.

Cheers and good luck!

Geoff

[Citrus breeze]

Thanks Snackchaser,

      Just tested voltage on each of the 6 v arm batteries. Each read 6.5 v. 

This was when not on shore power. 
 

Still checking to see if this trend continues. I’m not connecting shore power. Figured I would see if the batteries maintain their voltage. 
 

Charlie

[Jps190]

Just my .02 but if I were you, I would seriously consider the switch to Lithium.  If you are boondocking 9 days at a time then lithium will give you much better performance in all aspects.  They are lighter, last longer, charge faster and you can pack more power into a fixed amount of space.  The Elite 2 battery tray can fit 2 of the Epoch 300ah batteries which would give you plenty of power for long boondocking adventures.

 

John

[jd1923]

23 hours ago, Citrus breeze said:

Have thought about Li batteries. Pros and cons. I take it you are satisfied. 

Batteries should not be dead yet on a 2021 Oliver! Though Florida weather, Sulphur in the water and air in some parts, will cause corrosion. 

18 hours ago, Jps190 said:

The Elite 2 battery tray can fit 2 of the Epoch 300ah batteries which would give you plenty of power for long boondocking adventures.

When your batteries need replacing, check the second post in this thread: 

 

[Rivernerd]

On 9/17/2024 at 11:13 AM, Citrus breeze said:

Have thought about Li batteries. Pros and cons. I take it you are satisfied. 

Yes, I am satisfied with the 390 Ah of Lithionics LiFePO4 batteries in our 2022 Elite II. 

I got educated about batteries and solar panels more than 20 years ago when I needed to power a CPAP machine on wilderness river trips.  At that time, the best batteries commercially available were AGMs, which are sealed but are lead/acid based.  I replaced them every 3 years to avoid failure on a long remote river trip. I studied lithiums for years, and finally "bit the bullet" and bought some to power my CPAP when prices came down about 5 years ago. 

So, when ordering our Oliver, I was persuaded that the significant upcharge for the lithium package, given our plans to boondock, made sense for us. 

Your recent posts on this thread suggest you have resolved your current issue by cleaning the terminals on your 6V AGMs.  But, depending on how "fresh" your AGMs were when installed in your 2021 Elite II, you likely have between a few months and 4 years of remaining life, as lead/acid chemistry only lasts between 3 and 7 years from date of manufacture.  And, deep discharge (like you have just experienced) shortens the life of any AGM battery.

In your shoes, I would carefully study the recent posts by helpful Oliver owners on this forum who have installed Epoch LiFePO4 batteries, including those in the thread listed above by jd1923, and make an informed decision about whether the lithium upgrade makes sense for you.  Every time we boondock, we are grateful we "bit the bullet" for the Lithium Pro package on our Elite II.

Edited October 3 by Rivernerd

[Steph and Dud B]

4 hours ago, Rivernerd said:

Every time we boondock, we are grateful we "bit the bullet" for the Lithium Pro package on our Elite II.

The lithium batteries and solar are hands down the best part of our Oliver. Truly game changing for boondocking.